Free Tutorial - Beaded Wire Rivoli Bezel

Hello everyone!

I've got another free tutorial for you today- a new way to bezel a rivoli or other relatively low-dome cabochon in wire using beads as support.

I wanted a way to capture a rivoli securely in wire without resorting to the traditional wire-wrapping method of using stacks of wires surrounding a stone with the front and back wires bent to act as 'prongs' to hold the stone in place. It's an effective method but is so played out and boring with the wire ends as curls at the top of the bail... it can be done beautifully but I find it to be just... boring.

Just for fun, here's a rivoli I bezeled in a variation of the 'traditional' style years and years ago. Not my best work! :P

I knew if I was going to come up with a new way to capture a rivoli, it had better be secure. I think I've achieved that here. This method is also relatively versatile- the beads can work in this design in many sizes and the design can be adapted to any size rivoli or low-dome cabochon.

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Note: this tutorial is protected by an International Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike licence. This means that you are free to post this wherever you like as long as you give proper Attribution (that is, to me, Jet Kosanke, and my website, malfaitluciu.blogspot.com), it may not be used commercially (you're not allowed to make money off it, that is, sell this tutorial to other people for money), and you're free to make changes to it as long as you also share it under these same restrictions (that is, you still give Attribution to me, you don't sell it, and you allow it to be shared freely.) For more information, click the Creative Commons link at the end of the tutorial.

By the way- NonCommercial doesn't mean you can't sell works you make using this tutorial. If you make a necklace, bracelet, or whatever using this tutorial, feel free to sell it- however, you may not mass-produce it, and the Attribution part still applies, that is, you still have to attribute the design to me.

If you're unsure if what you want to do is allowed, just ask me! I'm really pretty laid back about things like this :) I'd rather share my knowledge and discoveries for free so others can learn than charge money for my tutorials. With all that said, on to the good stuff! :)

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Click on any image to view a larger version.

For this tutorial I used:

1 14mm Montana Blue Swarovski rivoli crystal

14 4mm bronze melon beads

20 gauge dead soft bronze colored copper wire

26 gauge dead soft bronze colored copper wire

Step 1

Cut about five or so inches of 26 gauge wire and string some of your small beads on it. You want to string just enough beads on that when shaped into a loop, they just fit around your rivoli with maybe a millimeter or so of wiggle room. You want them to fit as closely around the rivoli as possible without being too small- a hair too big is better than too small. For my rivoli, it took 14 of my melon beads to fit comfortably.

Step 2

When you've determined how many beads you need to fit around your rivoli, pass one end of the wire back through the first bead you strung to form a loop, and pull tightly to snug the beads into a circle.

Step 3

Try to maintain relatively tight tension of the wire running through your beads during this step and the next. Minor gaps between the beads are okay but you don't want any large noticeable spaces between any of the beads. Take one of your wire tails and wrap it around the bit of wire between the bead the tail is coming out of and the bead next to it. Wrap about three times, then snip off the excess and use your chain nose pliers to press down the tail end. If the holes in your beads are large enough to allow for it (like mine are here), try to maneuver the wraps you just made so they're hidden inside one of the beads- not a required step but it helps keep things looking neat.

Step 4

Repeat step 3 with the other wire tail. You're not going to be able to hide these wraps inside a bead, but that's okay, we'll obscure them later. Make about three wraps around the core wire running through the beads, snip the wire end off, and use your chain nose pliers to press the wire end flush with the wraps. You should end up with a bendable but relatively strong ring of beads with one spot of noticeable wraps, as shown below. The rivoli should nest into it comfortably but not super tightly.

Step 5

Set aside your ring of beads for now, and cut about 6 inches of 20 gauge wire from the spool. In the center of this piece of wire we're going to create a circle. It doesnt need to be a perfect circle but you do want to get it as close as you can to perfect, so take some time to really get this loop shaped nicely. This loop needs to be juuust smaller in diameter than the rivoli- we dont want the loop to encircle the crystal, we want the loop to sit on top of the crystal and rest just at the verrry edge of it all the way around. 

You can shape the wire with your fingers and then use your round-nose pliers to even out the curved shape bit by bit, or you can use a round object close in diameter to the rivoli, such as a marker, as a mandrel, or you can try to shape the wire around the rivoli itself (although this is rather fiddly and frustrating). If you do shape the wire around the rivoli itself, keep in mind that once you form the circle around the crystal, you're going to have to adjust the circle to be a little smaller because we need this wire to sit on top of the crystal, not fit around the perimeter of it. I personally use a pair of convex-flat pliers to create this loop (check out this post for a review on convex-flat pliers and why you should consider adding a pair to your toolbox!)

Step 6

Now that our circle is the right size, it's time to bend the tails up. I use my chain-nose pliers for this. Make two bends so that the wire ends stick up parallel to each other straight up out of the wire circle.

Step 7

Grab your steel block and your chasing hammer - we're going to hammer the circle to flatten it out a bit. This is partly for aesthetics and partly to add to the security of the setting later on - flattening the wire slightly will give it a little more surface area to hold the rivoli down. Don't hammer the straight parts, just the circle. Try to keep your hammer strikes firm and even; hammering always distorts the wire somewhat, but we don't want to lose the circular shape or hammer it so much that the circle ends up too wide and no longer sits atop the rivoli. Don't go whacking away at it like a crazy person- just firm, even strikes; only hammer until your circle is evenly flat all around, and the wire is about a millimeter wide.

Step 8

Get your ring of beads and center your rivoli in it, then lay your hammered circle over top of the rivoli to check the fit. Remember the spot on the beaded ring with the visible wire wraps? That's where we're going to put the two straight wires on the wire circle, so it won't be visible. If everything has gone right so far, your wire circle should bridge any gap between the rivoli and the bead ring while still overlapping the edge of the rivoli all the way around.

Step 9

Set aside the wire circle and the ring of beads for now and cut another 6 inches or so of 20 gauge wire. Make another circle with this wire, the same way as the first one, just smaller in diameter than the rivoli so that the circle rests on top of the edges of the crystal.

Step 10

Instead of bending the ends of the wire straight up and parallel like the first circle, this time we're going to use our round nose pliers to shape one end into a somewhat large spiral into the inside of the circle. Keep the spiral up toward the edge of the circle, you don't want it in the middle of the circle. When you've formed your spiral, snip off any excess wire and discard it.

Step 11

Where the second tail of the wire just meets the start of the spiral you made in the last step, snip the tail off and gently shape the wire back into a circle if it's become distorted at all.

Step 12

Get out your steel block and chasing hammer again and evenly and firmly hammer all around the wire shape you've just made. Just like last time, you don't want to hammer too hard or too much, because we want to make sure that we don't distort the wire and have it end up too big to rest on the edges of the rivoli anymore. This hammering is partly for aesthetics (it's nice to have the back of a piece look somewhat neat, don't you think?) but also for strength, because this shape is not closed - the non-spiraled end isn't connected to anything so we want to make sure it's strong and that it will hold its shape under stress.

Step 13

Pick up your rivoli again and lay the spiral shape on the back of it to test the fit and ensure that it still sits just on the edges of the crystal. Also, use your fingers to gently press the shape against the back of the crystal - because rivolis have pointed backs and not flat backs, we want to press this wire shape so that it fits snugly against the pointed back of the crystal.

Step 14

Set the rivoli and the spiraled piece of wire aside for now and pick up the first circle shape we made and the ring of beads. Using a short piece of 26 gauge wire (I just pull a piece from my container of scrap wire - this wire is only going to be used temporarily so it doesn't matter if it's kinked or ugly or a different color or whatever), bind the wire circle shape to the ring of beads, wrapping the scrap wire between two beads and around the wire circle once or twice. Try not to attach the wire circle in such a way that it is directly in the center of the ring of beads, but instead just a little above the center (because eventually the rivoli will be in the very center of the beads and we want to allow some room for it). Don't worry about making this part pretty- it's a purely temporary functional step that you'll be undoing later.

Step 15

Repeat step 14 in a couple more places around the ring of beads. Remember earlier in step 8 when we mentioned putting the two straight parallel parts of the wire circle in front of the visible wraps on the beaded ring? Keep that in mind while adding the temporary scrap wire supports in this step.

Step 16

From here on, we'll be working with the rivoli and the back circle of wire in place. It can get a little fiddly, but the temporary wires we put in place in the previous steps will help a lot here. Place the rivoli face down into the beaded ring so it's resting on the first circle of wire, and then center the second circle of wire onto the back of the rivoli and hold it in place with your thumb.

Step 17

At this point you'll need to decide where you're going to use the 26 gauge wire to 'anchor' all the pieces of the whole assembly together; preferably at points that are symmetrical on each side. Where exactly you place your anchor wires will depend on the number (and therefore size) of the beads you're using and the size of the rivoli or low-dome cab you're using. Refer to the photo above- for this project, I placed anchors in five places, one directly at the bottom halfway between the 14 beads, then two more anchors on either side that mirror each other, for an overall even appearance.

To place an anchor, first cut a piece of 26 gauge wire about 4 inches long or so. Using your thumb and fingers to hold the rivoli and the back circle of wire in place, slip the wire underneath the front circle of wire and behind the ring of beads at the spot where you've decided to place your first anchor.

Step 18

Flip the whole assembly over and slip the end of the 26 gauge wire you just added in the last step underneath the back circle of wire and pull it through so that about half of the wire is on the front of the assembly and half is on the back.

Step 19

Still holding everything in place with your thumb and fingers, begin wrapping the 26 gauge wire around the back circle of wire to secure it. I find that 5 wraps is sufficient. After 5 wraps, snip the leftover wire and use your chain-nose pliers to press the cut end flat against the circle of wire.

Step 20

Flip the assembly over and locate the other end of the 26 gauge wire you wrapped in the last step. Pull it up snugly from the back, over the front circle of wire, and around to the back, loosely aligning it between the two beads where you've decided to place your anchor.

Step 21

Still holding everything together with your thumb and fingers, flip the assembly back over to the back. Take the end of the 26 gauge wire and guide it underneath the back circle of wire next to the wraps you made in step 19. Pull the wire through gently but firmly all the way through, making sure that the wire nestles itself in between the two beads you've decided to place your anchor between.

Step 22

Wrap the 26 gauge wire around the back circle of wire five times, this time in the opposite direction of the first five wraps you made in step 19. Snip the excess wire and use your chain-nose pliers to press the cut end flat against the circle of wire.

Step 23

Continue adding anchors in this manner in the locations you've decided will look best. Ideally, try to place the back circle of wire in such a way that the point where the cut end of it meets the curled end of it ends up at an anchor point. Add an anchor wire here as before, but when making the wraps with the 26 gauge wire, try to wrap it so that at least some of the wraps capture both ends of the circle of wire. It's not the end of the world if you don't do this part or if your placement of anchors doesn't allow for this. Your anchors will still securely hold the rivoli- this will just add a little bit of extra security.

As you add anchors, remove the temporary scrap wires as you go when appropriate. As anchors are added, these temporary wires will become less necessary and manipulating the entire assembly will become less fiddly.

Step 24

After adding your last anchor and snipping the last wire, take a moment to run your fingers along the wraps to feel for any wire ends that are sticking out too far and may scratch skin or catch on clothing, and if you find any, snip them shorter with your flush cutters and press them down more snugly with your chain-nose pliers.

Step 25

Flip your pendant back over. Cut about a 2 inch piece of 26 gauge wire, secure it at the back of the bottom of the two parallel pieces of wire sticking up from the top of the pendant, and neatly wrap the 26 gauge wire around the two straight wires for 6 or 7 coils, or until the wraps reach the same height as the beads. Snip the excess 26 gauge wire in the back of the pendant and press the cut end flat against the parallel wires with your chain- or flat-nose pliers.

Step 26

Snip the two parallel wires evenly about an inch above the wraps you did in the last step.

Step 27

With the tip of your round-nose pliers, grasp the ends of the parallel wires and create a small loop in the ends of both wires evenly from back to front.

Step 28

Still using your round-nose pliers, create another, larger loop further down the parallel wires from front to back, creating a small looped bail for a chain or ribbon. The small loops made in step 27 should touch the wraps made in step 25.

And with that, your pendant/component is complete! Use your fingers to press and adjust the beads around the rivoli if necessary, in case any are sticking out a little further than others; just gently manipulate them until they're evenly spaced and the component is nice and round. 

I hope you enjoyed this tutorial, and if you have any questions, feel free to ask in the comments :)

If you create something using this tutorial, I'd love to see it! Email me photos of your work (with a link to your blog if you have one) to malfaitluciu@gmail.com - I'd like to create a gallery page on my blog featuring your creations made using this tutorial (or any of my tutorials) with a link back to your blog, too :) Don't be shy, let me show off your work! :)

Beaded Wire Rivoli Bezel Tutorial by Jet Kosanke is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License

For now, I'll leave you with my kitty Trinity, who insists on sitting on any square or rectangular object she finds.

'Til next time!

Free Mini Tutorial - Wire Clasp Hook

Hello there!

Today while working on the anklet from this post, I came to the point when it was time to make the clasp. I decided on a simple hook and eye clasp. Because I really tend to mostly only make earrings, I really don't have much practice making clasps.

This became apparent in my first two attempts at making one:

The one on the left has an unsightly seam where the two ends of the wire meet at the wrapped part, and the one on the right, while heading in the right direction, has a badly misshapen loop and the wrap didn't catch the second wire end.

Since this piece is a commissioned piece (and for a dear friend, at that), these ugly clasps just would not do. So, I worked at it, trying different ideas, until I came upon what I think is a pretty successful design.

To save others from all the trial and error I went through coming up with a nice looking hook for a clasp, I documented the making of one so I can share it with all of you! (My apologies for some of the low photo quality - I don't have the best light in here, but I think the photos still illustrate the ideas I'm trying to put across).

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Note: this tutorial is protected by an International Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike licence. This means that you are free to post this wherever you like as long as you give proper Attribution (that is, to me, Jet Kosanke, and my website, malfaitluciu.blogspot.com), it may not be used commercially (you're not allowed to make money off it, that is, sell this tutorial to other people for money), and you're free to make changes to it as long as you also share it under these same restrictions (that is, you still give Attribution to me, you don't sell it, and you allow it to be shared freely.) For more information, click the Creative Commons link at the end of the tutorial.

By the way- NonCommercial doesn't mean you can't sell works you make using this tutorial. If you make a necklace, bracelet, or whatever using this tutorial, feel free to sell it- however, you may not mass-produce it, and the Attribution part still applies, that is, you still have to attribute the design to me.

If you're unsure if what you want to do is allowed, just ask me! I'm really pretty laid back about things like this :) I'd rather share my knowledge and discoveries for free so others can learn than charge money for my tutorials. With all that said, on to the good stuff! :)

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Click on any image to view a larger version.

This mini tutorial uses 20 gauge dead soft wire.

Step 1

First, decide how long you want your hook to be. Take that measurement (in inches), multiply it by 4, and then add 2 inches - this will be the length of 20 gauge wire you'll need to cut. For example: I wanted my hook to be an inch long, so 1 inch x 4 = 4 inches, 4 inches + 2 inches = 6 inches total.

Step 2

Next, fold your wire roughly in half - it doesn't need to be perfectly exactly half. You want to use your pliers to squeeze the wire at the bent point together as tightly and closely as you can - flat nose pliers work very well for this. Don't rush this step; squeeze the wire firmly but slowly, otherwise the wire will just flip flat in your pliers and you'll risk leaving ugly tool marks on the wire.

Step 3

Starting from the fold made in step 2, measure the wire to twice the length you want your hook to be (I wanted a 1 inch hook in this tutorial so I measured two inches from the fold). At that point you measured to, bend just one of the two ends of the wire out to the side at a 90 degree angle.

Step 4

Next, snip off the other end of the wire at the point where you bent the wire in the previous step.

Step 5

Using your round nose pliers, make a loop in the wire left sticking out at a 90 degree angle, leaving the 'tail' sticking out more or less straight out to the side.

Step 6

Grab a short piece of scrap wire (masking or painter's tape will also work, but I prefer to use scrap wire) and use it to bind the two straight parts of the wire tightly together - you want them to be bound tightly next to each other but not overlapping or twisting on top of each other. Bind them about a quarter to a half an inch below the loop.

Step 7

Now, using your round nose pliers to maintain the shape of the loop, slowly and gently bend the tail of the wire around the two pieces of wire you bound together in the last step. TAKE YOUR TIME HERE. Use your chain nose pliers to gently coax the tail around the wires if you can't do it with your fingers. Don't try to bend it in one fluid motion - make many small, gradual bends in order to ensure your wrap will be sufficiently tight around the base wires.

Step 8

After making half a wrap, use either your chain nose or flat nose pliers (I prefer my flat nose pliers for this) to SLOWLY, GENTLY, FIRMLY press the wrap you've made so far securely around the base wires.

Step 9

Repeat steps 7 and 8 for two or three more wraps; always with your round nose pliers inside the loop while coaxing the tail wire around the base wires, then using flat or chain nose pliers to firmly but carefully press each wrap snug against the core wires. I CANNOT STRESS enough how important it is to take your time and work in small controlled increments while making your wraps. Because we are working with 20 gauge wire, rushing this part will nearly always leave you with unsightly tool marks and uneven wraps. Just relax, focus, and breathe- appreciate the process instead of rushing for the finish line and you'll do great! :)

Step 10

After two or three wraps (I decided on two for this one), snip off the excess 20 gauge wire and use either your chain nose or flat nose pliers to gently but firmly press the cut end down against the rest of the wires so it doesn't stick out and scratch skin or catch on clothing (you can use a small metal file here if you like). Remove the temporary binding wire.

Step 11

Now comes the fun part :) Break out your steel block and your chasing hammer and hammer evenly down the entire length of the wire. You're not aiming to make it very flat; instead you're just trying to work-harden the wire to strengthen it because clasps of course need to be strong and hold their shape. Try to hammer as evenly as possible- hammering will distort the shape of the wire somewhat, but we want this wire to stay as straight as possible. You don't need to bang the hell out of it, either; just firm, even strikes.

Step 12

At the very tip of the wires where we made the sharp fold at the beginning, use the tips of your round nose pliers to make a little upward curl.

Step 13

Now it's time to make the main bend in the hook. I used a jump ring mandrel here, but if you don't have one of those, it's easy to improvise with a pen or pencil or other thin round object you have lying around the house. Bend the hook so that the tip of the hook just meets the wrapped wires at the loop.

And that's it! You now have a simple, classic hook-style clasp. This design can of course be modified in many ways; you can make it shorter, make the curve in the hook bigger, whatever you come up with.

If you create something using this tutorial, I'd love to see it! Email me photos of your work (with a link to your blog if you have one) to malfaitluciu@gmail.com - I'd like to create a gallery page on my blog featuring your creations made using this tutorial (or any of my tutorials) with a link back to your blog, too :) Don't be shy, let me show off your work! :)

Wire Clasp Hook Tutorial by Jet Kosanke is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License

I hope this mini tutorial ends up being helpful for someone! For now I'll leave you with sweet Neo, all sprawled out on my butt :D 'Til next time!

A Peek at my Methods

Hello there!

I thought today I'd write a little post about some of the things I use to do what I do. Not the regular stuff - everyone knows what pliers look like - but instead, the things that I pull out and set up in front of me every time I sit down to work with some beads and wire.

First is my sweet little apple box! It's actually a sewing box, and I found it for a great price at a discount store- I wasn't looking for it; it found me! I saw those cute little apples and knew it had to be mine. I am a sucker for cute fruit prints- the only way it could be better is if it were a citrus pattern instead :D At one point it actually had a handle on the top made of thick wire threaded with big apple green colored plastic beads, but sadly, the handle broke off with repeated use. I did salvage the beads though (of course!)

This little box is exactly the right size to hold all of my many pliers- I think I've got eight different pairs of pliers in there! Another thing that lives in my cute apple box is...

My cute little tape measure. It was a freebie in an order from Fusion Beads, and really it's just a cheap little measure but I prefer it over my 'real' sewing tape measure because it's retractable and compact. And the price was right! :D

No wire wrapping session can start without wire- and currently all of mine lives in this cute kitty cat trick-or-treat bag that my mom gave me last Halloween. 

She knows Halloween is my favorite holiday (I even got married on Halloween!) and of course I adore cats so she got it for me as a surprise. I just love his purple ears!

Now that the tools and the wire are out, it's time to pull out the container of scrap wire.

It's just an old fast food container (washed of course) that my Grams gave me when she realized I created a lot of bits of short wire when I worked. I use this little container and the wire in it all the time! Before I cut any wire from a spool, I dig through my scraps to see if I already have something that will serve my current purpose in there- and many times, I do! This is also where I get my 'temporary' wire from - some wireworkers use masking tape to hold wires in place as they work, but I never liked doing that; instead, I grab a short scrap of wire and use it to temporarily bind together wires I'm working on.

The bead box comes out next. What's wirework without beads? Now, keep in mind, this is just a small selection of the beads I own. I have at least five more of these boxes filled up, plus various plastic bags and cardboard boxes and assorted little containers.... actually I don't really know how many beads I have. I don't even know WHICH beads I have! :D This is a good thing though, because now and then I'll come across a box with beads in it that I forgot I had and it's like getting brand new beads!

The next item I gather is my sketch journal. It's a beautiful peacock book with metallic gold detail and a magnetic closure I found on Amazon. It seems that this particular book is no longer available on Amazon, but there are many more books with different, just as gorgeous designs by Punch Studios available. (They make beautiful nesting boxes too- I want ALL of them!)

I initially intended for this book to be my 'Happy Book' - my aim was to write down only good things that happened each day. Eventually though it morphed into my sketchbook; although I still write journal entries in it on an occasional whim.

Even the pages of it are beautiful- here's an example of some of my notes about one design I worked on awhile back:

When I'm not taking notes and measurements, I use it as a daily sketch journal- my aim is to fill one page a day with doodles and sketches, no matter how 'bad' or 'weird' - many of my favorite pieces started as ugly little scribbles in this book!

When working with wire, it is inevitable that eventually you're going to need to form a smooth curve or circular shape. There are mandrel pliers out there that can help with this, but why waste the money? I bet you're surrounded by mandrels of all different sizes if you just look around for a moment...

Here's a selection of my mandrels (I also have a real actual ring mandrel, but I really only use it to size rings, go figure). From left to right- a battery for my electronic cigarette, an actual mandrel made specifically for making jump rings (I use it often, but surprisingly enough, never for making jump rings), two slightly different sized tubes of seed beads, a mechanical pencil, a fine point Sharpie marker, a Revlon lip stain marker, and a wine cork. All have come in handy at one point or another.



Lastly, perhaps you have noticed the tan and white chevron design background in most of my photos (and in all of my shop photos). It's just a sheet of scrapbooking paper I picked up at Michaels.

It has gotten a lot of use (abuse may be the correct term) - it is full of creases and curls and ragged edges and small tears.

But, for whatever reason, this well-used piece of paper still looks great in product photos! It looks awful in person but in photos its flaws just aren't as apparent as long as I don't deliberately call attention to them :D

I actually bought a number of sheets of scrapbooking paper when I first opened my shop; some light...

...and some dark.

Ultimately after testing and holding the papers this way and that, placing different items on them, just plain staring at them, I decided the dark papers were too serious looking and I liked the tan and white chevron paper the best - it's clean and casual and friendly looking, I think. And it has served me well!

Hope you enjoyed this little look into my 'process' :) Today I'll leave you with my sweet monster Neo, all snuggled up under the covers :) 'Til next time!

A New Shop & Commissions!

It's been awhile since I've updated here, but it's because I've been so busy with my new(ish) online shop!

Malfait Luciu Jewelry's Storenvy Shop is open for business and stocked full with lots of goodies; go have a look!

Between working on building up inventory for my shop, I've been working on a number of commissions. I'm always so honored when people come to me for a special one of a kind, handmade piece of jewelry! I'll post about some of the ones I've completed in later posts, but for today I'll focus on the one I'm currently working on.

It's for a dear friend so it's a special piece to me, and I want it to be just perfect for her. She gave me a few elements she wanted for the design, and then set me loose! I love working this way - a little input from a client on the look they're going for, perhaps the colors they're interested in, the overall 'feel' or 'theme' of the piece, and then leaving the rest to me. So far for all my commissioned pieces, this method has worked really well!

This current piece is exciting because it's a little different from most requests - she wants an anklet with a chain that goes down to a toe ring! We've all seen these for wrists and fingers, which are very cool, but this one is more like a barefoot sandal, and I love the idea!

She asked for bronze wire (my most favorite color to work with - score!) - and when I asked about bead colors, she told me she wanted fiery colors - and I immediately knew exactly what beads to use - Swarovski's Fire Opals!

These babies are brilliant- part rich red and part flaming orange with a bit of sunny yellow thrown in. She loved them when I showed her a photo, and that was that! She decided on rounds instead of bicones. My brain was already working out ideas for the design, and I decided that at the spot where the chain meets the anklet, there just had to be a matching rivoli crystal.

Go figure, Fire Opal rivolis have been discontinued. But! heartsdesires1 on eBay saved the day, and at a decent price, too! She has tons of crystals at good prices, I'll be going back to her for more, I'm sure!

I am so impatient with the mail when I'm waiting for new sparklies, but it seemed like these beads arrived in no time! I couldn't wait to start sketching ideas. I knew I wanted to make a flexible chain, which meant coming up with a design for the links. I wanted each link to include one round faceted bead. I had 12, so I used 10, saving one to decorate the clasp and one to decorate the toe ring. Here's just one page of sketches- I did about three though before deciding on something classic and pretty :D

I don't know if it happens to anyone else, but I have an annoying habit of re-sketching the same design over and over again! But, I have a rule when it comes to sketches- sketch everything that comes to mind; put every idea down on paper, no matter how bad you think it might look- follow every whim! There are no bad ideas when sketching for ideas. Some of my most favorite pieces have evolved from some rather ugly and unremarkable sketches in my sketchbook. (Another tip - sketch every day! I make a point to fill a page of my little book with sketches every day. Then, when I find I want to make something but don't know what, I just look through my sketchbook and find an idea to develop and turn into something good :D )

Okay back to the anklet. After deciding on a design for the links came the relatively boring part - making ten of them - and making ten of them that are identical. It's not difficult, but it can be tedious.

Each link had to be hammered for strength in the connecting loops and aesthetics in the larger loops - my poor husband and cats had to tolerate my noisy hammering for quite a few minutes. I always feel bad and make sure to apologize after I finish hammering something. :P I decided to link each link together in an alternating orientation for a little visual interest.

Next came the rivoli. I fiddled with this for quite awhile. Because it naturally has no holes, it needs to be securely 'captured' in some way. Also, because of the way it will fit into the entire piece, it needed three points where chains could be attached. I tried  one way:

Thinking I'd capture the crystal between the two round elements - didn't quite work how I'd pictured it. I pondered on this conundrum quite a bit! I didn't want to bezel it in the traditional sense; I've never really liked that look.

Eventually I settled on a sort of netted frame with 'wings' (I have no idea how to explain this) - and it's secure, which was my main concern. I attached it to the middle of the chain links to see how it looks:

The loop coming out the bottom of the rivoli are for the chain that leads to the toe ring. I'll use bronze rolo chain for that. I may incorporate some little bronze fluted beads or little bronze spacers...

But I'm not sure quite yet. The next step is creating a clasp for the anklet. That'll be tomorrow's work :) For now, I'll leave you with my mom's kitty Vinnie, who is always my little 'helper' (read: loveable nuisance) when I work on beadwork, wirework, embroidery, or crochet at my mom's house. Usually I can distract him and keep him busy with my tape measure, but he's a smart boy and figures out real quick that the really fun toys are the ones I'M playing with :D

'Til next time!

100 Facebook Likes Jewelry Giveaway! *CLOSED*

I am thrilled to announce that, thanks to the efforts of my friends and followers of my jewelry page on Facebook, Malfait Luciu Jewelry, I have reached the all-important 100 'likes' milestone! As promised, since we've reached (over!) 100 'likes', I'm hosting a free giveaway for a custom jewelry piece. The prize this time is my 'Provençal' Earrings - the first result of my current fascination with white wire.

These 'Provençal' Earrings are carefully handcrafted in an intricate filigree design and feature large faceted opaque turquoise czech glass focal beads, and they hang from comfortable handmade hammered and filed non-tarnish silver earwires. They hang about 3 3/4" from the very top of the earwires. Here are a pair of photos to give a general idea of their overall size:

They were a joy to make and I hope they will be a joy to wear and own for one lucky winner!

The giveaway starts today, Wednesday, January 7th, 2015, and ends at 12:00 AM (EST) on January 15th, 2015. You can enter via the Rafflecopter widget below. There are two ways to enter, and it is possible to gain six entries - you get one entry for visiting the Malfait Luciu Jewelry Facebook page, and a whopping 5 entries for commenting in the Rafflecopter widget and answering a simple question: What is your opinion of matching earring/necklace sets? Love 'em? Never wear 'em? Let me know in the widget for an easy FIVE entries!

After the giveaway is over, the winner will be chosen at random from all the entries via the Rafflecopter widget I've implemented. The winner will be contacted by email from MalfaitLuciu (at) gmail (dot) com. The winner will also be announced on the Malfait Luciu Jewelry Facebook Page. In the event that the winner does not reply to the email within 48 hours (in order to give me the address to send the earrings to), another winner will be chosen from the remaining entries using random.org.

After leaving a blog post comment, be sure to click on the Rafflecopter widget where it says "Leave A Blog Post Comment". A button will pop up that says "I Commented!" - in order to make your comment count and to gain your 5 entries, you've gotta click that button :) (The same goes for visiting Malfait Luciu Jewelry on Facebook - after visiting, come back, click on "Visit Malfait Luciu Jewelry on Facebook" on the widget, and click the "I Visited" button!) To know for sure that your entries have been counted, look at the top of the widget - if it says 6/6 at the top right, it means you've done everything right and have earned your six entries! :D MAKE SURE YOUR COMMENT ACTUALLY POSTS BELOW IN THE COMMENTS SECTION - If you click 'I Commented!' without leaving a comment, it doesnt count. If you have any problems leaving a comment let me know by emailing me at MalfaitLuciu (at) gmail (dot) com - If anyone has trouble getting their comment to appear, email the comment to me and I'll add it manually to ensure your five entries get counted :)

EDIT: I have made a slight change to the giveaway - instead of leaving a comment on this blog post, I've instead integrated the option to comment for five entries into the giveaway directly into the Rafflecopter widget. REST ASSURED ALL, everyone who has entered and commented already, your entries remain valid and you don't have to do anything further. Some people were encountering problems with commenting on the blog post, so I've switched it to this easier alternative. :)

I wish everyone the very best of luck, and thank all of you, my dear friends and followers, for the wonderful support you've all shown me with regards to my work. I'm on cloud nine right now- you all inspire me to keep creating, keep trying new things, and I am so very grateful. :)

Thank you all, and I wish you all the best of luck! :) And don't forget- if you don't end up being the lucky winner, you can always stop by my little jewelry shop for a look around- who knows, you may find something that speaks to you, and I'd be thrilled for a little visit :)

Have fun!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Back to Wire, plus a Giveaway! *CLOSED*

Hello! It's been awhile, but I've been busy! It's been all about wirework for me lately, and I've been slowly building up an inventory of pieces in order to set up a table at a neighborhood sale in September. This is a big step for me, but I finally realized that I've got to put myself out there or I'll never sell anything, haha :D I've been thoroughly enjoying wirework, it feels so 'right' to me.

I've been lucky to have quite a bit of support from friends and family on my personal Facebook page, but I've decided I should probably start posting my work on my jewelry page on Facebook (that's what I made it for, after all!). I am approaching a small milestone on my FB page- I'm close to 100 followers. So, to reach that milestone, I've decided to host a giveaway!

My most recent work, this pair of Five-Point Copper Flower Earrings, could be yours! All you have to do to enter is like MalfaitLuciu Jewelry on Facebook and enter through the Rafflecopter widget below for 5 entries into the giveaway. After that, you can earn one more entry by commenting and telling me what your favorite type of jewelry to wear is, whether it be earrings, rings, necklaces, whatever! The giveaway starts today and ends Friday, September 5 at 12:00am.


a Rafflecopter giveaway

My plan is to host yet another giveaway when I hit the 100 likes milestone on Facebook, so be sure to share and check back often! Thanks everyone for all your support, and good luck! :)